Curbnote

Public-record red flags for Maryland, DC and Virginia home listings on Zillow, Redfin and Realtor.com, each with a source link.

Curbnote shows you what public records say about the home listing you're looking at. Open a Maryland, Washington DC, or Virginia listing on Zillow, Redfin, or Realtor.com and a Curbnote sidebar opens beside it. It compares the listing with public records and surfaces the gaps: things the records show that the listing doesn't mention, and places where the two disagree. Each flag is a short factual statement that cites its source, either the public record or the listing itself, with a link you can check yourself. FREE DURING THE BETA • Free for everyone through October 31, 2026. No credit card and no invite code. • Sign in with your email address. We email you a 6-digit code and you type it in. There is no password. • Paid plans will be announced before the beta ends, with at least 7 days' notice by email. WHAT IT CHECKS (when the records show something) • Listing history: relisting under a new MLS number, days on market that don't add up, repeated price cuts, quick resales, and asking prices below what the seller paid • Listing vs. public record: square footage, year built, lot size, assessed value, and property type that don't match the assessor's record • Assessment and taxes: asking prices far above or below the assessment, and sharp jumps in assessed value or the tax bill • Flood and water: FEMA flood zones, nearby wetlands, and streams crossing the parcel • Contamination: nearby Superfund sites, underground storage tanks, and brownfield or cleanup sites, where state environmental data is available • Surroundings: highways, rail lines, airports, high-voltage transmission lines, cell towers, wastewater treatment plants, past tornado tracks, and which utilities serve the address • Zoning: the parcel's zoning district, explained in plain language • Listing language and consistency: phrases such as "as-is", "cash only", foundation repairs, water mitigation, or a claim that the tax record is wrong, plus listing details that contradict each other • Older homes: pre-1978 lead-paint disclosure and the age of septic systems and wells • Nearby places: the nearest park, transit station, and supermarket, stated as a name and a distance, never rated Some checks exist only where the underlying records do: • Maryland and Virginia: hurricane storm-surge zones, coal-ash sites, landfills, quarries, motorsports venues, military airfield noise zones, and nuclear plant emergency planning zones • Maryland: the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area, farmland and forest conservation easements, and mailing addresses whose town name points to a different county • Washington DC: historic districts, vacant or blighted tax classes, tenant purchase rights (TOPA), rent control registration, lead water service lines, and modeled rainfall flooding • Virginia: Chesapeake Bay Resource Protection Areas, karst and sinkhole terrain, dam-break inundation zones, and Virginia's buyer-beware disclosure rules WHERE IT WORKS • Maryland: statewide property records. • Washington DC: District-wide property records. • Virginia: partial. Virginia has no statewide assessor, so the property-record checks (assessments, taxes, sale history, and zoning) depend on what each county or city publishes. Today that is 21 of Virginia's 133 counties and cities, home to about 48% of Virginians, including Fairfax, Arlington, Alexandria, Richmond, Henrico, Chesterfield, Norfolk, Virginia Beach, and Newport News. The level of detail varies by locality. • Elsewhere in Virginia you still get the flood, environmental, surroundings, and listing checks. When an address has no assessment record available, the sidebar says so at the top, so a shorter list isn't mistaken for a clean one. • Listings in any other state show a short note that Curbnote covers Maryland, DC, and Virginia. No lookup is made. • If a public data source doesn't respond, the sidebar names it, so a missing flag isn't read as an all-clear. WHAT CURBNOTE DOES NOT DO • No scores, ratings, rankings, or recommendations. It never calls a property good or bad. It shows facts and where they come from. • No valuations, comps, or advice to buyers or sellers. • It is about the property, not people. Owner names are never shown or stored, and listing photos are never read. • No ads and no analytics trackers in the extension. No flags does not mean no issues. Curbnote surfaces what it can detect in public records, not everything that could be wrong with a property. It is not a home inspection and does not replace an inspector, an attorney, or a financial advisor. Questions, a bug, or a flag that looks wrong? Use "Send feedback" in the Curbnote sidebar or account panel, or go to curbnote.net/feedback.